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Good
To Know
Let's get right down to the facts so we
can move on to actually making and using custom skins.
-
Each car in LFS is a 3D model with a texture "wrapped"
around it. In the case of LFS that texture is a JPG
file,
this image format was developed for use on the Internet and is
therefore very common.
LFS skins are JPG files,
nothing any more complicated than that.
-
Every decent (and many poor) graphics and paint programs support
the JPG format. This makes skinning very easy in LFS because anyone
can have a go.
JPG images are easy to create and edit,
and they use compression to reduce file size, helping to improve
performance by minimising the load on PC harware resources.
- LFS contains default skins which can be "painted over"
in your favourite paint or graphics program, and saved as skins
in JPG format for use in LFS. That's as simple as skinning really
can be. You can find the
default skins in your LFS/data/skins folder.
Look for the plain white skins with no design on them.
- LFS skins have a special naming prefix for each car, you will
notice this prefix in the skin name, for example: FZR_DEFAULT.jpg.
The FZR_ prefix must be used for FZR cars if you want the game
and LFS World to handle the textures (skins) properly. Apart from
this technical reason, it makes good sense to have everyone using
the same naming convention for skins.
All cars each have their own 3-letter filename
prefix followed by an underscore,
check your skins folder and you will see how it works.
Basic Method Of Making A Skin
Ok
this is really basic, but if you are a total newbie this will
get you started:
1. Launch
your graphics or paint program (recommended: Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop.
Not recommended: Windows Paint).
2. Go
to
file/ open,
browse to your
LFS/data/skins folder
and choose a default skin (plain white) for the car you wish to
paint. Click
Ok.
3. Using
the paint and effects tools provided with your software you can
paint the skin and create a design for your car. You may also
cut and paste other images on to your skin. Sponsor logos are
popular additions, as are racing stripes and numbers, your country's
flag and things like that. Don't stop until you are very satisfied
with the quality of your work.
4. Go
to
file/ save
as,
and make sure that the file type selected is
JPG. Name
your skin using the three-letter prefix, include the underscore.
Don't use a common name like XFG_HONDA, be more unique. Don't
use special characters in your filenames, keep it simple.
Making
sure that you are saving to your
LFS/data/skins folder,
click Ok to save your JPG file.
There. You just made your first skin! I hope you put more time
and effort into the next one, below are some tools and information
to help you do your best. Please check our other tutorial topics
for more advanced techniques and considerations.
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Skinning
Tutorials 
